Jaylos Week
by Iggyfangirlcraziness
Summary: Hey guys! This is for the Jaylos Week created by the lovely musiclovercd3. Please enjoy. Each chapter will display a different theme for each day of the 6-day week.
1. Ink and Petals

**Monday - Real world**

 **Plot: Carlos is a tattoo artist and Jay owns the florist across the road. Jay loses a bet with Mal and has to get a tattoo of her design along with her boyfriend, Ben. Who would have thought their friends were friends?**

 **Warnings: Suggestive flirting.**

 **Disclaimer: Me no own.**

 **Ink and Petals**

The soft, sweet smell of the white gardenias he was hanging did not aid to deter Jay's sour mood. His glare at the innocent flowers darkened as the near overpowering scent filled his nose, delicate petals dropping to the ground as the frustrated brunette wrestled with the bundle, trying to suspend it on the hook hanging from the ceiling.

Jay had inherited the small florist from his mother after she died. While he may not have looked like the kind of guy to own a flower shop, he wasn't going to let his lowlife father touch the joyous place. Plus he kind of enjoyed arranging the flowers. Okay, he really liked it. His mother had admired the vacant shop for years before finally being able to buy it after much saving. She loved every moment of setting up, every flower arrangement she spent hours on and every customer she interacted with in her short, mostly prosperous life.

Jay enjoyed all of things as well. Well… most days. The customers can be good. And… they can be rather horrible. Like the one that just stormed out leaving Jay seething.

"Why didn't you just deck him?"

Jay turned his glare to his purple-haired friend who was lazing on the front desk.

"Oh yeah, Mal, 'cause that would have turned out wonderfully, wouldn't it?" Mal shrugs. She opens her mouth to make a retort but before she can say anything her boyfriend, Ben, walks out from the backroom, dusting of his hands.

"Mal..." He says sighing at her before turning a warm smile to Jay.

"Her physical suggestion not quite what I think our lovely Mal was trying supply," He starts, "but she has the right intention. You shouldn't have let him get away with talking to you like that. Actually, I'm surprised you did."

Jay turns back to the gardenias, finally managing to hook them up. He shakes his head.

"Doesn't matter. This shop doesn't need to go down at the hands of a law suit because some idiot wanted his masses of flowers two days early." He walked over to them, leaning against the reception desk.

It was silent for a while before Mal perked up, turning a sly smile to the two boys, "On your break we could go get our tattoos!" Both boys groaned.

"Mal! It was a dumb bet. How serious are you about this tattoo?" Ben looked up at her, grimacing.

She took on a mock serious look, nodding, "Oh, very serious. You told me that if I could drink more than you, I could get you guys to get tattoos with me. Never underestimate my determination when it comes to tattoos. I even have the designs with me!"

Jay, knowing they wouldn't be getting out of this, told her to show them the designs she has. She jumped off the bench with a grin and scurried off to get her sketchbook, returning quickly and jumping back onto her spot. She flicked through the various pages of sketches and paintings of mythical creatures along with portraits of them and some other people before finding the first page she was after.

At the top, the title read 'Mal's'. The image was a swirly, curvy, half purple, half black heart shape but when you looked closer you could see that it was two dragons. She flipped the page. The title on this one was 'Ben's'. The drawing was of a golden crown with elegant designs flying around it, blue and green gems dotting occasionally, but the most intriguing feature was the depiction of the 'Beast' from Beauty and the Beast sitting directly at the top of the crown.

She gave them a moment to look before flipping the page once more, showing off a black and red cobra, head up, fangs beared, facing them. This one said 'Jay's'.

Once they were done, she slammed the book shut and grinned expectantly at them. Ben put the pieces together quicker than Jay.

"Were they based off our favourite Disney films?"

Mal laughed, "Yup," she said, popping the 'p', "Sleeping Beauty for me, Beauty and the Beast for Ben and Aladdin for Jay." They had adored those movies as kids and they had stuck with even now as young adults. The boys loved them. "No backing out now! Besides, a friend of mine works there, we'll get a discount." She said jumping off the counter and walking towards the door. The boys looked at the clock, confused and hoping for answers. It was Jay's break…

Carlos flipped through a design book, contemplating each sketch and image one by one. As he found one he liked, he presented it to Evie for her to look over. She commented briefly on them. He'd been looking for a new tattoo artist. On their busy days it was only him and Evie but she was the receptionist and so with a line-up, it was difficult to get through them all. With another helping hand, it might be easier.

Some of the drawings were of obscure dragons and other mythical creatures, some were of weapons or words, all of them having their own unique styles. Carlos grinned, he loved them all.

He sighed and tossed the book on the table next to the chair Evie was perched on.

"I think we might just have to hire her."

"Oh yes! That'll be so cool! Another girl finally in this workplace. Well, I suppose you are very feminine Carlos but you know… An actual female!" Evie squealed.

"I protest about me being feminine…" Carlos grumbled. The bell above the door jingled and Carlos turned around to find Doug struggling through the door, a tray of coffees balancing in one hand and a box of donuts in the other. Carlos jumped up and grabbed the coffees out of the dark-blonde's hand, helping him through the door.

They put the donuts and coffee on the table next to Evie, she had the largest, happiest grin on her gorgeous face. Doug raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend.

"Did you find a new tattoo artist?" He made a stab in the dark toward Carlos. The white and black-haired boy nodded. Doug turned to Evie, going for another guess, "It's a girl?" Evie nodded her head up and down so quickly the boys worried she may get whiplash. "Okay then, cool. When are you telling her?"

Carlos looked at his watch and shrugged, "Actually, she has an appointment in 10 minutes. I'll let her know then."

Doug nodded, "Okay, well let's eat before she gets here and then during break we should go over to the florist and order Evie's flowers."

Ten minutes later they had finished eating and were sitting at the table waiting for the appointment. After a few moments, the doorbell rang out, signalling someone opening the door. The trio looked up to find a pretty purple-haired girl with a shit eating grin gracing her features, a tall, respectable looking blonde boy and an even taller, tanned brunette boy walking through the door. Carlos' jaw dropped as his eyes raked over the last boy. He had muscles the size of an army truck and hair that looked as smooth as the ocean and dark brown eyes that were the same shade of Carlos' favourite dark chocolate. He could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. Evie ran forward, brushing past the stunted boy.

"Mal!" She squealed, running towards the purple-haired girl.

"Evie!" Mal called back, embracing the small girl into her arms tightly.

As the girls began talking like they hadn't seen each other in days – which Carlos knew was not true, Mal came in and made a booking yesterday and they were talking for hours – Carlos could not stop staring at the tall, dark and extremely handsome man that had stepped into his small unsuspecting tattoo shop. Then the brunette turned to face him, staring him directly in the eyes. He couldn't pull away.

"-os? 'Los? Carlos! Carlos De Vil!" Carlos jumped and faced Mal, startled. He quickly glanced back at the tall brunette who was being clicked at by the young blonde boy, he turned back and walked to Mal who was waiting expectantly at the entrance to the back rooms.

"Sorry, M. I'm here. I wanted to tell you, you got the job." He smiled at her. Her face lit up brilliantly.

"Oh my god, really? A thousand thank you's!" She jumped once and then leaned down to hug him tightly, he hugged her back, laughing.

"Haha, it's okay! Can you start Monday?"

"Absolutely!" By this time, the other two had joined the four in the back of the shop and they made introductions to those who still didn't know each other.

Jay could not keep his eyes of the freckles on the smaller boy's face. They were completely enthralling. Carlos. Carlos. Carlos. Good name. Cute name.

Jay listened back into conversation when Carlos got straight to business, "Okay, M. What is it you want?"

Mal told him of the dare and then handed over the designs, she would be going first. She wanted it on her hip. While Carlos and Mal were out back, the others sat in the front room, chatting. Mal walked out an hour later and Ben left to get his done. Another hour, many snacks and drinks later and he returned with the gold crown on his chest leaving Jay to walk to the back. He sat down in the chair as Carlos prepared everything.

"So, Jay, where would you like this?" Jay hadn't even thought about it. But he had an idea.

"Wherever you think it would look best, Sweetums." He grinned and watched as Carlos turned red.

Although he was as red as a tomato, Carlos decided he wanted to play along with this, liking the twinkle in Jay's eyes as he watched Carlos' every move.

"Well, in my opinion, I'm pretty sure you already have a pretty impressive cobra below your waist so let's not take away from that region. Perhaps somewhere above the waist." He said, cocking his head to the side and then he himself watched in satisfaction as Jay's face darkened with pink flush.

Jay cleared his throat quickly realising he was not going to win against this guy, "Ahem, uh, yeah, let's roll with left side ribs." Carlos chuckled.

They chatted the whole time as Carlos drew the picture onto Jay's skin with a marker, learning small quirks and tid bits of information about the other and backstories and "Oh, you own the florist across the street?" and "So your mother was a controlling bitch?". The list went on of the things they learnt about each other. Yet, it really only started to get fun when Carlos moved onto the inking. With Jay wincing every second word as the needle grazed ever so slightly over a rib bone, Carlos couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the abrupt choked off noises Jay made as he tried to stay strong through the whole process.

After a lot of swearing, courtesy of Jay and much laughter from the cross-haired boy, they had finally managed to pull off the tattoo.

Carlos had just finished putting a patch over the tattoo and telling the brunette how to care for it when Jay told himself it was now or never.

"Hey, Carlos…" he got the boy's attention, "I have never opened up this quickly to someone in my entire life but it just seemed so right with you. Would you like to get coffee sometime? Or dinner?" Jay rubbed at the back of his neck, nervously awaiting an answer, not daring to look Carlos in the eye.

Carlos chuckled, "I felt the same way, Jay… After I realised I had told you about my mother without thinking twice well, I told myself I would ask you out but I guess… you beat me to it ahaha…" Carlos trailed off.

Jay looked up at Carlos with a puppy-like hope in his eyes, "So is that a yes?"

Carlos laughed, "Yes, Jay."


	2. Not Worth Going Back

**Tuesday - Bully/protection**

 **Plot: Carlos gets cornered by Chad in the locker room after practice. Chad is horrible but it's okay because Jay comes to the rescue. Even if it is in a kind of brutal way.**

 **Warnings: explicit language, mentions of past child abuse and violence.**

 **Disclaimer: Me no own.**

 **Not Worth Going Back**

Carlos sighed, exhausted. Most of the team had already left as Carlos entered the locker rooms, he had stayed back to help coach and a few of the others pack up after practice.

Tourney had been hard! He'd never understood the concept of sports but he stayed on the team for Jay. A smile lit up his face. They had organised to meet up after practice at 7pm in their dorm and then were going to go out for dinner. He looked at the clock. 7:05. Darn, already late. He still couldn't wipe the smile off his face and promised himself he'd be quick.

Carlos peeled off his shirt and his smile dropped as he saw his skin in the mirror. Scars and bruises still littered his chest from his mother's punishment. He could still hear her shrill voice screaming at him as he looked at each scar. The nail marks, knife cuts, the burns, the whip welts, belt marks, the list goes on. Only Jay, Mal and Evie knew about the scars and his mother as they had, over the years on the Isle, witnessed it firsthand. He hoped it stayed that way. Then he smiled slightly, again, remembering that he was away from her. She couldn't touch him anymore.

Carlos started walking towards the showers, pants hanging loosely around his hips when he was suddenly slammed into the wall.

"Hey, fag. Your boyfriend give you those nasty little booboos?" Chad Charming. Anything but Charming in reality. He sneered down at Carlos, holding the boy's neck, forcing him against the wall. Carlos wished he could just sink into it and fade away from this situation.

"I bet you begged him to do it. Am I right, you little runt?" Carlos' air was being cut off now, face going red. He started trembling.

"Why don't you fight back? You're supposed to be a villain kid, right? Grew up on the Isle and all. Yet you do nothing. You really are pathetic." Carlos squeezed his eyes shut. There was a crash and suddenly the pressure around his throat was gone. He opened his eyes hesitantly and slid down the wall, sinking to the floor. He looked around.

Chad was laying on the ground, nose bleeding profusely and he was crying. Jay stood over him, fists trembling and face furious.

"Don't you ever fucking talk to him like that ever again! At least not like that! And if I ever see you lay a hand anywhere on him ever again, nobody will ever find your body because it will be strewn in tiny pieces all over Auradon and the Isle of the Lost! Fucking got it!?" Jay screamed at him. Chad whimpered.

"Maybe if he wasn't such a runt, people wouldn't have a go at him!" the blonde cried.

Should not have done that. Before Chad could do another thing, Jay was on top of him, punching him in the face repeatedly. Carlos had to do something.

He quickly jumped up, running over to the two. He tried pulling on Jay's arm to no avail.

"Jay he is not worth it! C'mon! He's not worth going back to the Isle!"

By this time, a few of the boys that were standing outside and had heard the commotion had finally ran up to the boys, Ben leading them.

"Jay!" the young king yelled, attempting to pull his friend off of Cinderella's prestigious son. It took several of the Tourney boys to finally pull him off. When they did, Carlos got a good look at Chad's face. There was tons of blood all over his face, so much so that he was unrecognisable. Jay went easy on him. Good, Carlos thought.

Jay wrenched himself out of the other boy's grip and spat on Chad who was still writhing on the ground.

"And never, ever, call him a runt."

Ben told Jay and Carlos to leave so they could get Chad to the infirmary. Jay gladly pulled Carlos to his side and they walked out of the locker rooms together.

As soon as they were in their dorm room, Jay turned to Carlos looking him over worriedly, hands on his shoulders and asking a million questions a minute.

"Where did he hurt you? Are you okay? What did he say to you? If this were the Isle, he wouldn't have gotten out that easily. He would've been dead."

Carlos chuckled, "Jay. Jay. Jay! Calm down, I'm fine. You went way overboard… You're lucky you didn't kill the guy."

The brunette frowned, "I should've…"

Carlos shook his head gently, "No, you shouldn't have. He doesn't know any better, it doesn't matter. It's over now and besides, I don't think he's going to be harassing any one of us anytime soon. I think you did a pretty good job of scaring the shit out of him."

Jay laughed quietly, "Well, okay. As long as you're okay and still up for it, should we go on that date now?"

Carlos smiled brightly, and walked over to his wardrobe to grab some clothes before walking to the bathroom for the shower he never got to.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea."


	3. The Smoke In Our Lungs Deters

**Wednesday - Isle stories**

 **Plot: Ben discovers some new and interesting things about our favourite VK boys.**

 **Warnings: mentions of past child abuse, explicit language, implied sexual content and drug use. (Jay and Carlos get baked)**

 **Disclaimer: Me no own.**

 **The Smoke In Our Lungs Deters Our Reality**

"Ben, calm down! They used to do this all the time on the Isle. It's their stress relief." Mal tried to reason with her boyfriend, not really asking but more commanding.

Ben looked horrified, "They did this all the time?" he shook his head, "Well, it's illegal here!"

Mal chuckled and mumbled, "You really think that's stopped them before?"

Ben glared at her. Mal smiled slyly and looked sideways at Jay and Carlos who were curled up together on the floor at the end of their bed, giggling at… nothing. Mal laughed.

"Mal, this isn't a laughing matter!" Ben's face was turning red, he couldn't believe the two VK boys were high! Of all things they could do, they were smoking marijuana! He looked back at the boys. They were still laughing at random things, taking long drags of their blunts and, wait, did they just kiss?

"Maybe you should try it sometime… You might be a little less stiff about it…" Mal giggled. She caught onto her boyfriend's seriousness. Her smile dropped and her face sobered up.

"Look… let's get Evie and go somewhere quiet and we will explain… everything about…" she made a waving gesture to the boy's, "That."

The purple-haired girl pulled the young prince by the arm and out of the boy's dorm room leaving them to their peace and each other. Mal swore she heard one of yell 'Buh bye!' as they left.

-oOoOo-

Evie followed Mal and Ben blindly and quietly as they walked into a classroom that wasn't being used as of yet. She had no idea why Mal had grabbed her and asked to talk. Then they walked here.

Evie perched herself on a desk while Mal jumped up on the teacher's desk and Ben leant against another student table.

Evie looked at both of them, "So… What's happening? Where're Jay and Carlos?"

Mal laughed, "Funny you ask, this is about them." Evie nodded slowly, still confused as to what it was about, Mal saw this, "They're completely baked in their dorm room and Ben freaked so now you and I are going to tell the story or Jaylos."

Evie nodded quickly in comprehension, "Oh! Okay!"

Ben looked even more confused, "Jaylos…?"

Evie grinned, "Yeah, you know, Jay and Carlos, together. Together together." Ben looks even more confused.

"Oh… Oh. Oh!"

And the other shoe has dropped, Evie's smile widens wickedly.

"That would explain them kissing…" Ben said quietly.

"Haha… Yes, yes it would. Anyway, back to the matter at hand…" Mal trails off, looking at Evie expectantly.

Evie takes her cue, "Well… Back on the Isle, as you must have figured out by now, not much was… illegal. Actually, nothing but doing anything good was illegal. Unlike here of course. And when things got bad for those two… They decided to find another escape."

Mal joined in, looking directly at Ben, "When Evie says 'when things got bad', she would be referring to the bad days. All of us had them but those two… They probably had the worst ones. While my mother mostly ignored me and Evie's mother made her constantly do her makeup to the point of pain, Carlos' mother and Jay's father were a little more… physical." Mal let that sit with the young prince for a moment. He looked sick. She had to let him know though.

Evie took over, "Cruella was the worst. Lists of chores that reached from one wall of the Hell Hall to the other – no exaggeration, we helped him with them on multiple occasions. Carlos had to complete them in the time she was at the… spa. And, if he didn't do them all in time… she would beat him beyond recognition…" Evie got quiet, it was difficult but Ben had a right to know as he gave them the chance to get away from them. He needed to know what he saved them from.

"She liked to put cigarettes out of his skin and cut him with her nails and that is only the start of it. I won't go into gory details. She made him sleep in her fur closet were she had multiple bear traps…" Evie and Mal shared an awkward look at that moment, both remembering when Mal had locked Carlos and Evie in said closet, she was still extremely apologetic.

Mal decided to go next.

"Then there's Jay and Jafar. Jafar was a cheap old bastard. If Jay didn't steal up to his daily quota then Jafar wouldn't let him eat the food that Jay himself had actually stolen…" Mal checked on Ben again, he had been quiet the whole time, she was worried he might actually throw up… "Jafar would sometimes kick Jay out for nights on end when he didn't steal things Jay liked. He usually stayed and one of our houses on those nights. And then, the worst times was when Jay got caught. If Jafar found out that Jay got caught stealing, he was so not happy. He wouldn't beat him to the extent that Cruella did but Jay certainly had massive, black bruises for days, sometimes even weeks later!"

Both girls looked distraught and Ben couldn't blame them. They had all been through so much and Ben could never imagine how it would feel if someone so close to him, like Doug, had gone through this… He'd want to kill whoever did it.

Evie choked down her tears, "Then they found each other and weed at the same time… On the bad days, they'd go to each other and get high and wrap themselves up in each other to forget for a little while. They invited us a lot of times and occasionally we went but most times we didn't. We knew that they just needed each other for a little while."

Mal looked at Ben with slightly pleading eyes, "I know you don't agree with it but… Please don't take this away from them. Eventually, the Isle will mostly become just a memory but, at the moment, and for a long time to come, it is still very fresh and very real. They're also very sensible with it. No one else will know."

Ben looked between both girls. Evie was biting her lip, looking at him and he could see the desperation in his girlfriend's eyes. He sighed.

"Okay! I won't." the girls almost yelled their gratitudes and Mal jumped off the desk to smack a kiss on his cheek, "But! I don't want it offered to anyone." He looked at them both sternly.

"You think they'd share their weed with anyone but each other and other people they trust? Really?" Evie asked, incredulous and eyebrow raised. Ben shrugged then stopped.

"Wait... How did they even get weed in Auradon?"

Mal held him at arm's length and looked at him like he was mad, "Do you actually think that everyone in your precious little kingdom is totally perfect?" Evie laughed, skipping out of the room and down the hall towards the boy's dormitories. Ben looked mortified. Mal dragged him out to follow Evie, giving a whole-hearted laugh.

They made small talk as they walked back to the Jay and Carlos' room, when they got there, Evie opened the door and peeked her head in.

Before Ben or even Mal could see anything, the blue-haired girl abruptly pulled her head back out and shut the door quickly, turning to face the two, red cheeks and awkward smile lighting her face.

"Let's not go in there just yet." Mal started laughing, catching on quickly as Evie brushed past them to walk down the hall. Ben put his hand on the doorknob, brows furrowed.

"Why? What's wrong?" As he turned the handle slowly, not yet opening the door, Mal turned her fox grin toward him.

"Let's just say they aren't just kissing anymore."

Ben let go of the hand very quickly and stepped away, walking down the hall to catch up with Evie, Mal skipping behind them, laughing her lungs out.


	4. These Scars On Our Skin, Tie Us

**Thursday - Soulmate AU**

 **Plot: Soulmate AU (Scars/marks/bruises/burns etc)**

 **"Jay looked down at the bruises, scars and burns that littered his body, bit his lip and frowned. Don't worry! They aren't his. 'How does someone have bruises and scratches and scars that aren't theirs?' you may think? Well, that's because it is kind of like a genetic. Everyone is born with a soulmate and after you turn sixteen, every bruise, scar, cut, mark, scrape that is inflicted on them, appears on your body and vice versa. "**

 **Warnings: child abuse and mentions of child abuse (bruises, burns, scars etc plus there is some actual child abuse, not just mentioned), there might be explicit language... I can't remember. I think that's it...**

 **Disclaimer: Me no own.**

 **These Scars That Mark Our Skin Are What Tie Us**

Jay looked down at the bruises, scars and burns that littered his body, bit his lip and frowned. Don't worry! They aren't his.

'How does someone have bruises and scratches and scars that aren't theirs?' you may think? Well, that's because it is kind of like a genetic. Everyone is born with a soulmate and after you turn sixteen, every bruise, scar, cut, mark, scrape that is inflicted on them, appears on your body and vice versa.

A few years ago, Jay thought that everything about soulmates was stupid. Then he turned sixteen and everything changed; as soon as he saw just how many marks appeared on his skin, he felt sick. That many scars was beyond the stage of clumsiness and well into the tell-tail signs of abuse. He needed to save his soulmate from whatever mess they were in. He would do anything.

He wasn't sure how he had become so attached to this person so quickly when he didn't even know him! He had spoken to his best friend, Mal, about it for hours over the phone, trying to understand why he cared so much and also making plans of how to help. Which he soon found was difficult when he didn't actually know what the situation was.

Mal had told him that she had felt the exact same way before she met her soulmate, Ben. Before she turned sixteen, she wouldn't have given a rat's ass about her soulmate but as soon as his bruises popped up on her skin – while they were a result of his clumsiness – she couldn't help but giggle and worry for him. When they met, he had told her that he always ran into doors and tripped over things and she could not stop laughing. She, in return, let her know that her scrapes and scratches were from skateboarding and other things of the same likeness that she constantly was partaking in.

His other close friend, Evie, had almost the same situation with her soulmate. Except she had been long awaiting her sixteenth birthday so she could find out. Hopeless romantic that girl was. Anyway, she was always pricking herself with her sewing needles among other things while Doug's fingers were always calloused and raw because he practiced trumpet consistently.

Their other friend, Carlos, hadn't found his soulmate yet. He was still fifteen and was not to get his soulmate's marks for another four months.

Jay left the bathroom after his warm shower and checked the time. 3pm. He was meeting the gang at 3:30 and still had to pick Carlos up. He should probably get going.

The drive to Carlos' house was easy. He pulled up outside and walked up to the door, knocking gently. There was a crash. Then scream…

Carlos came flying out the front door, slamming it shut and grabbing Jay's arm to walk towards the car as his mother was still screeching in the house. They jumped in the car, both slightly bewildered, and started down the road before the crazy as woman could make it out the door.

Jay glanced at Carlos and quietly asked, "You okay?"

Carlos gave Jay a small smile and nodded, seemingly happily if only a bit rattled.

Jay turned down a street, "What was she going off about this time?"

"Oh you know, just the fact that a teenage boy like me shouldn't be allowed to go out with friends. The usual."

"Uh huh. Ignore her, did you?"

"Yup." They both laughed and made small talk till they made it to the small coffee shop that they were meeting up with Mal, Evie, Ben and Doug.

They easily spotted the group as soon as they entered the building, blue and purple heads of hair catching their attention immediately. They walked over and sat down.

Upon greeting them, Mal and Evie bombarded Jay, demanding updates on how his soulmate seems to be.

"They're okay, I think. There are some new additions though." He replied, frowning.

Ben grimaced, "Damn… that's not good. How bad?"

"They're pretty bad, dude." Jay pulled down the collar of his shirt to show them a large, blackened bruise marring his collarbone. The group 'Ooh'ed pulling various faces of pain.

"You'll find them soon enough and you can get them out of there, Hun." Evie said reassuringly, patting him on the arm. Doug nodded next to her.

"And we will all help in any way we can." Jay nodded in thanks and the conversation carried on.

Jay's eyes sought out Carlos'. He couldn't help himself… They were just so gorgeous. Like warm, melted chocolate that welcomes anyone. But… there was always something in those eyes that JY couldn't shake. It was almost constant fear… but what of? Jay wasn't sure… He was sure that he could stare into them forever though…

Jay! No! Soulmate, remember! Right… okay.

Jay still couldn't stop himself from smiling when Carlos laughed though. It was so beautiful and raw.

After many random conversations about school and gossip and other things that friends talk about along with their coffee cups drained, they all say their goodbyes and 'I'll see you Monday's before briefly hugging each other and going their separate ways.

Carlos and Jay walked back to the older's car quietly laughing and talking as usual. They could talk for hours about anything and everything. This lasted until they reached Carlos' door. Just as he was opening it for them to walk in, there was a smack and Carlos was stumbling back into Jay. Jay wasn't sure what had happened as he looked at Carlos holding his face before focussing on the furious, crazed face of Cruella standing before them. Before either of them could react, she was screeching profanities at the younger boy and scratching at his face.

Jay, as quick as he could, collected his wits and did the first thing he could think of; punched the woman square in the face.

It worked… She went down like a ton of bricks, out cold.

Before he knew what he was doing, he had a trembling Carlos gathered up in his arms and was briskly making his way to his car, setting the smaller boy in the passenger side and jumping in the driver's seat before speeding off to the outskirts of the forest that surrounded their small town.

Once there, he turned off the car and pulled Carlos into his lap, cradling him closely.

"Are you okay? Did she hurt you badly?" Carlos shook his head quickly and looked up at Jay.

He had a few red lines going down his face and a red mark from where she had slapped him but other than that he seemed okay aside from the shock of it all. Then Jay looked a little lower.

Cruella's nails must have ripped at top of his shirt because there, in plain daylight, sitting atop his collarbone was a massive, dark black bruise. It stood out on his pale skin harshly. Jay couldn't stop staring at it.

"Carlos… did she do that too?" Carlos looked to what he was referring to and nodded with a small 'Yes'.

"Oh my… Carlos…" Jay rested the younger boy's weight on the steering wheel to peel off his shirt, "Did she do all of this to you as well?"

Carlos' eyes raked over Jay's torso, eyes widening to the size of saucers.

"Oh my god…" he whispered, tears coming to his eyes. Next thing Jay knew, Carlos had thrown himself around the brunette's neck and sobbed into his should, nodding vigorously.

Jay wrapped his arms around Carlos' small frame tightly and held him to his chest, "Don't worry… She's never touching you ever again…"

A few minutes passed and Carlos' sobs had calmed down.

"Thank you… for everything." Carlos said, looking up at Jay with a shy smile.

Jay had to ask, "Do you mind if I call you my soulmate, Carlos?"

"Only if you don't mind me calling you mine."

"It's settled then. Soulmates."

"Soulmates. Although… Ae are forgetting on thing…" Carlos grinned slyly up at Jay.

"And what would that be, my dear Carlos?" the brunette looked down at him with a curious eyebrow raised.

"You haven't kissed me yet." Jay grinned.

"Oh… No, I suppose you are right."

"I suggest you fix that… Right now."

Jay cupped Carlos cheek in his hand and brought his lips down onto Carlos' in a deep, promising kiss. Promising that he'd never let Cruella touch him again. Promising him that he would never be hurt so badly ever again. Promising him that he will never leave.


End file.
